Artists’ organising in times of upheaval

Welcome to a series of online seminars presented as part of Samtidskonstdagarna 2026!

The seminars explore how art practitioners and organisations in Sweden can learn from experiences in European countries where political shifts have had a concrete impact on the arts sector. We will also look at how these changes affect the conditions and frameworks for art, and how artists and art organisations navigate them in different European contexts.

The seminar series departs from questions that are frequently raised in dialogue with the arts field in Sweden:

•  How are artistic freedom and the arm’s-length principle affected by different political changes?
• What conditions are needed for the arts sector to operate sustainably over the long term?
• How do shifts in political governance affect artistic and organisational strategies?

Each seminar focuses on a specific geographical and political context. We examine what political shift has taken place, how cultural strategies and cultural policy directions have changed under different political leaderships, and what strategies artists and art organisations have developed to respond to—and act within—these changes. The seminars foreground the relationship between art’s fundamental conditions and the political and institutional frameworks that shape artistic practices and organisations in each country.

The seminars are open and free of charge to everyone working with art: artists, curators, art educators, art organisations, and other practitioners in the field. Registration is required.

A joint collaboration

The seminar series is produced by Statens konstråd and CAPIm – The Centre for Art and the Political Imaginary (HDK-Valand, University of Gothenburg, and the Royal Institute of Art), and is organised in collaboration with Bildkonst Sverige and Konstnärernas Riksorganisation.